Channel Seven is spending heavily on refurbishing its offices in Parliament with a new television studio, complete with a striking desk, after laying off around 150 staff amid financial problems.
Seven’s offices in Canberra’s Press Gallery have been turned into a construction zone during the parliamentary winter break, with “warning” signs posted on doors and tape over handles and locks.
Staff have been told to use the West Australian newspaper suite down the hall until the renovations are complete.
Daily Mail Australia understands Seven’s floor space has almost doubled in size after it bought the office next door from rival Network Ten years ago during its own budget cuts.
As costly renovations are carried out, dozens of loyal staff across the Seven West Media empire have been left out of work amid what the network is now describing as a “cost-cutting programme”.
Staff from editorial, television, marketing and sales teams have been laid off, and several high-profile and highly paid TV presenters have also been let go.
A high-profile victim was of long trajectory Brisbane News anchor Sharyn Ghidella, who was fired over the phone while at a hair salon preparing for an upcoming promotion for the network.
Pictured: Long-serving Brisbane news anchor Sharyn Ghidella, who was fired over the phone.
A Seven spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the Press Gallery renovations were planned long before the network fell into financial trouble.
“The refurbishment of Seven’s office in Parliament House has been in the works since early 2022, well ahead of the current cost-cutting programme,” they said.
The situation is so dire that the network’s billionaire owner Kerry Stokes will fly to Sydney from Perth next week and take up residence on the executive floor of Seven’s Eveleigh headquarters.
He is understood to be taking a hands-on approach as the troubled broadcaster tries to put an end to months of damaging headlines and internal turmoil, and his imminent arrival has done little to ease staff concerns.
Seven’s title as the country’s most popular broadcaster largely collapsed in the wake of Bruce Lehrann’s Spotlight saga, when former producer Taylor Auerbach began levelling allegations against his former employer in the Federal Court.
He alleged that the network had reimbursed Lehrmann for money it received for drugs and sex workers while trying to entice him to do an exclusive interview on Spotlight.
The network repeatedly refuted those allegations, but the damage had already been done. Now Seven has been hit by a wave of leadership changes and financial cuts.
Seven’s offices at the Canberra Press Gallery are undergoing a refurbishment (pictured)
Seven Press Gallery offices have “warning” signs on the doors and tape over handles and locks (pictured)
Those who have recently left include news and current affairs director Craig McPherson, managing director James Warburton, commercial director Bruce McWilliam and Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn.
McPherson was replaced by Anthony De Ceglie, who previously worked as a newspaper editor and had no television experience, who was promoted to Channel Seven’s top editorial post in April.
Veteran journalist Robert Ovadia also left the network after ABC Four Corners made inquiries into the alleged toxic culture in Seven’s newsroom.
Ovadia allegedly took images from a female producer’s personal Instagram page and turned them into a “cartoon” before sharing them with her, Daily Mail Australia previously revealed.
She has now lodged a complaint with the Fair Work Commission against De Ceglie and Seven, seeking compensation and reinstatement to the job she held for 23 years.
There are also rumours that veteran news anchor Mark Ferguson, who reportedly has a salary of up to $750,000, could be in the firing line, with presenter Angela Cox attracting attention with a rare series of solo appearances this week.
Kerry Stokes (pictured with wife Christine Simpson Stokes) is flying to Sydney to deal with ratings problems.
Long-time Seven news presenter in Sydney Mark Ferguson (pictured) could also be in the firing line.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Ghidella was fired from the network’s Brisbane office because she was on a much higher salary than her co-host Max Futcher.
“When you work in television for as long as I have, not a day goes by that you don’t expect a tap on the shoulder… After 38 years, I finally got a tap on the shoulder,” she wrote on social media.
‘It wasn’t exactly how I expected it to end up at Channel Seven.
‘I was sitting in the salon for work when I got a call telling me that after 17 years at the chain, my time was up.
“While I am a little saddened by this decision, I also feel a certain relief. As has been widely reported, the last two weeks on television have unfortunately been a depressing situation.”
Secret internal ratings figures obtained by Daily Mail Australia revealed that in just two weeks, Seven News Brisbane lost a significant 29,000 viewers.
The ratings freefall left Seven some 88,000 viewers behind Nine’s Brisbane news on Monday, while on Monday 8 July, before his axing, Seven was just 60,000 behind.
